Scare Up Your Table with a Brain Macaroni Salad!
Your brain-shaped gelatin mold can be used for much more than just gelatin and desserts! A couple of years back I showed you how to make my Maggot-Infested Brain Shrimp Cocktail, and now I have another recipe to share just in time for the Season 5 premiere of The Walking Dead on Sunday, February 8, 2015 – a Brain Macaroni Salad! Make this as a side dish for your premiere party, or any other time you need a little extra zombie food on hand for your undead loved ones.
Feel free to customize the vegetables and additions to your liking. I prefer my macaroni salad to have dill pickles and olives, but added chopped orange bell pepper this time for a little variety. The secret ingredient to making this recipe work is by substituting part of the mayonnaise with cream cheese – when the macaroni salad is fully chilled, it helps to hold it together in the brain shape.
EDIT: There is a new variation of my Brain Macaroni Salad recipe on my horror cooking show. View the recipe here.
Brain Macaroni Salad Recipe (Original Version)
What You Need:
Ingredients
- 3 Cups dry elbow macaroni
- 1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 Cup mayonnaise
- 2 T prepared yellow mustard
- 1/3 Cup chopped dill pickles
- 1/2 Cup sliced black olives
- 1/4 Cup cheddar cheese, cut into extra-small cubes
- 1 small bell pepper, chopped (optional)
Other Supplies
- Red or pink gel food coloring (I used Americolor)
- Brain-shaped Gelatin Mold
- Non-stick Cooking Spray
What To Do:
Fill a large pot with water and lightly salt; bring to a boil. Add food coloring and stir until dissolved. Add the elbow macaroni and cook until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, lightly spray a brain-shaped gelatin mold with non-stick cooking spray.
Drain pasta and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise and mustard. Add enough food coloring to closely match the shade of the dyed pasta mixture.
While the macaroni is still warm, add to the dressing mixture and mix until full coated.
Using a spoon or spatula, start building a thin layer of macaroni against the sides of your mold. This is so you won’t see any of the mix-ins on the outside of your mold. Of course, if this isn’t important to you feel free to skip this step.
Add the pickles, olives, cheese and pepper (or mix-ins of your choice) to the remainder of the macaroni/dressing mixture, spoon mixture into mold. Lightly press down to compact it into the mold.
Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm (6-8 hours is best).
To unmold, use a spatula to gently release macaroni salad from sides of mold. Place a plate on top of the mold, and flip over. Gently shake the mold (while holding the plate with your hand underneath) until the salad comes loose.
And just in case you’re still skeptical…yes, it really is a macaroni salad. 🙂
